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WDavis Inner circle 1276 Posts |
I've mentioned previously I filter opportunities using a scorecard before I qualify my prospects, here is why I do it. I use a scorecard to rank prospects and leads so I can focus my efforts for better returns and efficiency. Doing so also makes it easier to say no to bad deals. Many times we may not have a gig and want to put in some work, it's during these moments that using a scorecard is most important because we become weak when the coffers are lean and the pipeline low.
How many of you use a scorecard or something similar? If so, how has your experience been? |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
I guess I am way different. No score card and 90% of people who hire me do so because of having seen me.
So if they have the money they are qualified. Pretty simple. I don't understand the focus your efforts thing at all.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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JoshLondonMagic Special user 675 Posts |
Lead scoring with my CRM handles this for me automatically.
Josh
Josh
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charliecheckers Inner circle 1969 Posts |
I like the topic for discussion, but the idea of scorecards seems to be work for the sake of doing work, at least with my business model.
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WDavis Inner circle 1276 Posts |
Quote:
On Jun 20, 2017, Dannydoyle wrote: Danny, I find myself needing to focus efforts and rank because I've been in the situation where I had two gigs one was a new client with a large possibility of repeat business and referrals, the other was one of my first clients who is repeat business but grandfathered into a lower price point. I hadn't raised my fee on them because of the consistency of hiring me and being one of my first customers. I actually held on To them longer out of loyalty and security of a gig. It wasn't until I was forced to choose that I developed my scorecard. This helped me to remove the emotional bias and focus on what my business needs to grow . But since that moment I've been ranking every opportunity, this has helped me to refer away or pass on leads that I feel would either suck my time, not quite fit my niche, or they do/are something/someone I don't agree with. As silly as it sounds, I only do business with people I like. I used to do business with people I didn't cuz they paid, and so I adopted the charge an outlandish fee to them - if they accept I did it. As I've gotten older I'm less interested in spending my limited resource (time) on people or businesses I don't like or agree with. But that's just me. I hope this better explains what I mean by focus my efforts. |
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WDavis Inner circle 1276 Posts |
Quote:
On Jun 21, 2017, JoshLondonMagic wrote: Josh how does your lead scoring with your CRM work? The few I've used where based on quantitative apsects but lacked the qualitative OR they just ranked a probability of closing based on where you were in the process (SalesForce). |
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WDavis Inner circle 1276 Posts |
Quote:
On Jun 21, 2017, charliecheckers wrote: Charlie? How would evaluating an opportunity before pursuing it seem like work for the sake of work in your business model? As an entertainer, we only have a limited amount of performing time. So why not pick the best opportunities? I don't know your model, but I could presume that based on your statements, you are early in your career and are taking in everything to start generating cash flow. If that's correct, in my opinion, now is the perfect time to start developing your scorecard. A scorecard doesn't have to be complicated, it's just a simple way to evaluate an opportunity against a set of criteria. This lets you remove bias and emotional responses. The hardest moment for me was the first time I used the scorecard to pass on a lead. I met the individual at a conference and he was excited to hire me for an annual team meeting, my pipeline was drying up and I was beginning to get anxious because I don't like light pipelines. But he didn't pass my lead criteria, so I passed and Kept hunting for leads. It paid off I found higher paying gigs with greater referral possibilities. Again not telling you how to run your business, but think it over how a scorecard could help you sift through your leads for those diamonds and gold. |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Maybe the idea of having more of those leads be diamonds and gold in the first place has merit. No sifting through anything. I don't know where you get your leads but if you have to do so much sifting through them it seems as if you may want to rethink the approach to acquisition.
Are you at the beginning of your career? As for doing business with only who you agree with, seems an odd practice but if it works for you cool. Personally I never ask. People are people. One way to encourage narrow minds is to never associate with those different than you. I accept people for who and what they are. Just my thoughts.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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Mindpro Eternal Order 10587 Posts |
I think two things come into play here. As we have talked here before that all performers on not equal, all performers are not on the same level, all performers are not peers, and I have found that there are really two basic types of performers - those that operate their performing as a business and those that don't. Those that don't typically only do the parts they have to only to get the gigs such as limited or basic correspondence or paperwork. As hard as it is to believe, some still do not even use a contact or request a deposit.
So the topic of qualifying really only pertains to those that operate as a professional and as a business. Also as an agent and owner of several agencies it has become essential to qualify not just to determine if they are worth your time, effort and in your best interests to work with, is to also determine which of our acts, artists and entertainers are the best fit or most properly suited for them and their event. This is one of the benefits of having an agency offers over being just a single performer. In many ways it allows us to better serve the client much more, better or succinctly than many individual performers. I always have said I wish every performer could come and spend a week in the office of a full-service professional entertainment agency and/or speaker bureau. We get a much larger and more encompassing picture of the client and their needs than is offered to most individual performers. We hear things they won't say, tell or get into with you. We often hear what they think of you that you have no clue about. This is a very enlightening and truly educational element not available to most performers. And yes, I am referring to both the Consumer markets and bookings as well as Professional. So I believe in the power and benefits of qualifying. Now I do not know about a scorecard, as we have an input and question-based qualifying process based on many elements from type of market, venue, performance dynamics and much more. I suppose if we put numeric values to these components it could become a scorecard. Regardless of how you do it it can offer value to your business and operations. Walter is correct as it becomes a different game when you advance to the operational mindset of not wanting to take most gigs that come along just to have dates on the schedule and forthcoming income on the horizon. Once you move beyond that, you typically have a much higher quality of clients, better performances, relationships and results. |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
The only problem with qualifying is you are automatically disqualifying as well.
Just how much time are you spending anyhow on this as a single performer? Again it comes to where are you getting the leads from? If your lead generation mechanism is bringing in unqualified leads then having a scorecard is not your answer. Thinking about how you get the leads in the first place is your issue.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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WDavis Inner circle 1276 Posts |
Danny,
We always disqualify, if they can't pay your fee their disqualified. Time spent running thru a scorecard or a questionnaire is minimal. Most of these questions are gating questions to see if they fit with your service. Many people use the BANT framework. I have a more exhaustive framework that hits on a few key points salient to my model. With respect to lead quality and source, using the scorecard allows you to unbiasedly review your lead channels and either cut dead weight or put more resources based on traceable results and ranking. By ranking your leads and tracking your results you can assess the lead channel at the year end and see if it makes sense economically and time wise. |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Now you are misunderstanding.
You are talking about qualifying BEFORE asking for the sale. NOT if they can't afford it. 2 very different things. Again it seems time wasted to me. I ask again where you are in your career? This may account for your stance.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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lou serrano Special user Los Angeles, CA 671 Posts |
I had not heard of BANT before, so I looked it up. I'm sure others on here have never heard of it either, so I've posted two links that can be helpful in clarifying the BANT System.
https://salespop.pipelinersales.com/sale......pproach/ https://www.act-on.com/blog/lead-qualifi......s-cycle/ Lou Serrano |
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TomBoleware Inner circle Hattiesburg, Ms 3163 Posts |
When I was in sales, I learned that a qualified prospect was one that could answer yes to three questions.
Can you pay? Do you have a need for the product? Do you have the authority to buy? You don’t always have to ask directly but until you find out the answer to those three questions they are suspects and not prospects. Tom
The Daycare Magician Book
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/amazekids/the-daycare-magician/ My Blog - https://boleware.blogspot.com/ |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Quote:
On Jun 21, 2017, TomBoleware wrote: A FINE POST TOM! And my position is really simply that you can get almost all inquiries into this category BEFORE they get in touch with you.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
See here is the thing. SO FEW people dealt with by most performers fall into the sales acronym BANT.
Mainly because they are already calling because they have a need. (N) In general they have the authority or why would they be calling?(A) And have been given a budget (B) and the timing is what it is because of an event date. (T) My point that I have shouted for decades is simply that ALL these things can and should be taken care of prior to them even contacting you! Using just a shotgun approach to finding shows and hoping you run into the right people helps very little, and wastes a whole lot of time. For classic sales in lots of ways it makes sense. But in our situation I am just not certain these things translate too much. It as Charlie said seems like work for the sake of work.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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TomBoleware Inner circle Hattiesburg, Ms 3163 Posts |
I haven’t heard of the BANT system either, but I can see where adding the ‘Timeframe’ step could help.
But I personally would still want to make contact as soon as possible even if it was going to be later before they bought. Tom
The Daycare Magician Book
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/amazekids/the-daycare-magician/ My Blog - https://boleware.blogspot.com/ |
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lou serrano Special user Los Angeles, CA 671 Posts |
After speaking with WDavis at length, I know that his system for booking gigs is much different than the typical system that most magicians use. Within the context of his system, I can see how it's incredibly beneficial.
If you're a magician booking children's birthday parties and family shows, I think his system would be a waste of time. On the other hand, if you're working or aspiring to work in the higher end of the corporate market, this can be very beneficial, especially if one works his system. I don't know if he'll touch on his system here on the Café. The concept is simple, but the details would encompass much more than can be easily explained in a post. Lou Serrano |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
I work nothing but that market and it seems a waste of time.
BUT context would be nice. How far into a career is Walter? It might be very useful when starting.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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charliecheckers Inner circle 1969 Posts |
Quote:
On Jun 21, 2017, WDavis wrote: More and more we are turning away requests. Why? Because our show has evolved, become more specialized, and no longer fits into some of the performing arenas of previous clients, or those who were recommended to us from previous clients. Generally, this has to do with a low liklyhood that performing the show will enhance our future direction and could impair our desired brand image. We do not need a scorecard to make those assessments in my opinion. We pursue future clients with specific criteria in mind, and qualify them as they relate to fitting with our future direction. Again, here I believe a scorecard is not necessary. While creating a scorecard can seem objective, the value one places on a particular criteria likely has a great deal of subjectivity to it. Additionally, the percentage that the criteria plays in the overall scoring is also likely subjective. In our particular situation (rapidly evolving company) all of these components could slightly change a bit over a relatively short period of time. So while one may convince themselves that they have removed bias, subjectivity and emotion - it is not necessarily the case nor are there checks and balances in place to evaluate the validity of the scorecard. For all of these reasons, I believe a small business is better off spending time on higher gain opportunities to grow the business. There is so much for us to learn, getting mired down in creating a system even close to valid seems like an inordinate consumption of our time. Quote:
Again not telling you how to run your business, but think it over how a scorecard could help you sift through your leads for those diamonds and gold. As I said, this topic is interesting to discuss, and I am open to hearing the thoughts of others. |
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